Producers Guild Of America Agrees On New Credit: “Transmedia Producer”

EXCLUSIVE: I’ve learned that a significant All-Boards meeting for the Producers Guild of America took place tonight. Sources tell me that the members voted on a series of amendments that qualify individuals as professional producers. More importantly, for the first time in the guild’s history, they voted on and ratified a new credit — that of the Transmedia Producer — which had been shepherded by such Hollywood names as Mark Gordon, Gael Anne Hurd, Jeff Gomez, Alison Savage, and Chris Pfaff.

This Guild-wide adoption is unprecedented as it will allow executives who expand storylines of franchises onto multiple platforms to receive official credit on these projects as “Transmedia Producers”. These producers develop cross platform storylines on Film, Television, Short Film, Broadband, Publishing, Comics, Animation, and Mobile — and now, they’ll be credited with an official title. I’m told this is a historic move for the PGA because the guild rarely backs new credits. “These amendments demonstrate how the guild supports producers making and changing the game,” a source told me tonight.

Word to me is one of the authors and driving forces behind the PGA’s New Media Council Transmedia Producer credit was Jeff Gomez, President and CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment and a member of the PGA East. He’s been a pioneer of Transmedia Storytelling and implemented these type of campaigns for projects including James Cameron’s Avatar, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean and Prince of Persia and Tron, as well as Transformers for Hasbro and Microsoft’s Halo.

Here is how the PGA defines a Transmedia Producer:

A Transmedia Narrative project or franchise must consist of three (or more) narrative storylines existing within the same fictional universe on any of the following platforms: Film, Television, Short Film, Broadband, Publishing, Comics, Animation, Mobile, Special Venues, DVD/Blu-ray/CD-ROM, Narrative Commercial and Marketing rollouts, and other technologies that may or may not currently exist. These narrative extensions are NOT the same as repurposing material from one platform to be cut or repurposed to different platforms.

A Transmedia Producer credit is given to the person(s) responsible for a significant portion of a project’s long-term planning, development, production, and/or maintenance of narrative continuity across multiple platforms, and creation of original storylines for new platforms. Transmedia producers also create and implement interactive endeavors to unite the audience of the property with the canonical narrative and this element should be considered as valid qualification for credit as long as they are related directly to the narrative presentation of a project.

Transmedia Producers may originate with a project or be brought in at any time during the long-term rollout of a project in order to analyze, create or facilitate the life of that project and may be responsible for all or only part of the content of the project. Transmedia Producers may also be hired by or partner with companies or entities, which develop software and other technologies and who wish to showcase these inventions with compelling, immersive, multi-platform content.

To qualify for this credit, a Transmedia Producer may or may not be publicly credited as part of a larger institution or company, but a titled employee of said institution must be able to confirm that the individual was an integral part of the production team for the project.

Mutli-platform is being acknowledged as the way of the future of media. Transmedia producer is a moniker to hang on that trend. Kudos to all involved for taking the initiative to give credit where it is due as storytelling across multiple platforms has become intrinsic to our business and to the success of our projects.

The PGA New Media Council, formed in 2000, is the first professional guild organization to recognize the new media producing field, and we welcome all qualified producers to join in growing, and protecting, the community of new media producers.

The Transmedia Producer credit will help move transmedia storytelling from methodology to artform, from marketing tool to a conduit for dialog, mutual expression and co-creation. The credit will empower producers and creators to retain rights and take equity in the rich worlds they’ve worked so hard to build, even as they roll out across a dozen media platforms. That’s what the PGA is there to do.

We should all credit Alison Savitch and the Producers Guild of America’s New Media Council for vanguard thinking, and we should also acknowledge the support for this credit from the PGA and PGA East’s leadership in traditional media, people like David Picker, John Hadity, Gale Anne Hurd, Mark Gordon, Vance Van Petten and Marshal Herskovitz, among many others.

I suppose the credit is long overdue as many of us, including the sponsors of the change, have long been approaching story from this perspective. Let’s hope that the credit doesn’t get bastardized by producers who are putting the “short” version of their traditional media content on other platforms. The rules address this, but as we all know, in this town, everyone who makes a phone call seems to glom onto a credit. Imagine the feeding frenzy for this new and sexy credit? I do like that he rules seem to understand the distinction between an EP and a TP. In our work, we sometimes do both, sometimes do one or the other depending upon the nature of the project. The big hope here is that the credit drives recognition of the art involved in this area and that transmedia producers are transforming the art of storytelling.

AC • on Apr 6, 2010 9:49 am

Are you kidding me? First of all, everything is about money so any way to partake is a good thing as long as it’s fair and above board is good. But Transmedia Producer? Isn’t that what a Development Executive is supposed to do? A good Producer is supposed to do? Instead of clarifying the Producing credit, the PGA simply confuses it further with the official characterization but also, in so doing, it continues to diminish it’s own clout as it relates to the Producer credit. There is no need for this kind of credit and anyone who thinks it in some way acnknowledges new media for any other purpose than positioning people for upside participation is mistaken. What the PGA should really be doing is addressing standard Studio contracts that state in the area of New Media: Studio controls 100% of all Rights in New Media in perpetuity. It’s a one line response to what is arguably the most important discussion point in any deal today. Yet when you bring it up for discussion, it’s dismissed as non-negotiatble. Transmedia Producer is not what one’s PGA should be pursuing. There are much bigger issues. How about capping the level of Producer credit a Manager can get? How about creating a credit called, Financing Producer, so that we stop the arbitration process for those people who simply write a check? Let’s acknowledge everyone involved (my god did you sit through the 15 minutes of credits after Avatar?) but do so in ways that preserve the sanctity of the Producer credit, not confuse it further. What a waste of time and energy.

Jon Chambers • on Apr 6, 2010 10:22 am

It’s all trash. Why don’t they create a special credit for the producer who actually DOES the work, and then create another designating credit for all those leeches who had once owned/optioned the property, and were able to force the final production company to add their names in the credits? I’m fed up seeing 12 or more names as producers on a film. That’s patently ridiculous.

Kinda like seeing Harvey Weinstein’s name on LORD OF THE RINGS. He didn’t spend a single hour in New Zealand with Peter Jackson.

Above and Below • on Apr 6, 2010 11:03 am

Fantastic. We need more “producer” credits ’cause we get so easily bored with the six to sixteen popping up on the various shows out there now.

entesq. • on Apr 6, 2010 11:22 am

This is a stupid, meaningless distinction and in my view a waste of time and energy. They should just stick with the traditional producer, exec producer, co-producer, etc. which can appear in the credits of the applicable media.

Fantastic to hear! Multi-platform does require a special skill set that combines story creation – if not the actual writing itself – with producing skills across all the platforms. Great to be seeing some credit for this!

Fan • on Apr 6, 2010 12:09 pm

Trannies! Got to come up with a better monicker. Transmedia sounds so Dot-Com-Bubble.

cheeseburger • on Apr 6, 2010 1:22 pm

Only producers spend so much time thinking about and worrying about credits. Although there are a handful of extremely talented, extremely brilliant producers out there, most of them do nothing except muck up the process then try to take all the credit. Pathetic.

Lizz • on Apr 6, 2010 5:54 pm

First IPAD ! Now Trannies as in “Who was the trannie on that project?” Hi Mom I got the gig, yea I am a trannie on the new paramount flick! Thanks Hey Now!
By job description I think PGA just took bits and pieces of other jobs and made this up. A shame and it took PGA since 2000 to do it? Oh the fights we are going to see! So the person who was just a assistant to an executive producer on a popular TV series who put together the shoot for their webisodes, is now a transmedia producer or not? Those 2 minute shoots might also go on the dvd, so for sure right?
Such bull.

JL louie Partida • on Apr 8, 2010 7:08 am

How Ironic, Ticked off Trannies with Knives world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, Love it!